


Review of "The Doctor's Wife" - Doctor Who Episode 4

by shadowkat67



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: Episode Related, Episode Review, Meta, Multi, Steven Moffat Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-15
Updated: 2011-05-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:29:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowkat67/pseuds/shadowkat67
Summary: Review of the episode written by Neil Gaiman - The Doctor's Wife
Relationships: Amy Pond/Rory Williams, The Doctor & The Doctor's TARDIS
Kudos: 1





	Review of "The Doctor's Wife" - Doctor Who Episode 4

Just finished watching _The Doctor's Wife_ by Neil Gaiman, who is best known for his _Sandman_ comics and various novels, including the one recently made into a film _Caroline_. This episode had many of Gaiman's trademark and imaginative touches - which are why I read him and watch his films, even though I'm often frustrated with the wandering plots. In some respects, I think, Gaiman is a far better short-story or episodic writer than he is a novelist or serial writer. Short-story or episodic works better for writers concerned mostly with theme or exploring one idea or an aspect of a character, while serial or novel writing works better for writers who like complex twisty plots, exploring characters thoroughly, with less emphasis on one idea or theme. One is better than the other, they are just very different. _The Sandman_ comics are very anthology/episodic in nature. As was _American Gods_ in some respects. There's a through line, but the individual stories were often more interesting.

This story acts, much like Curse of the Black Spot as a stand-a-lone, but provides to a degree information on the arc, not nearly as much information - largely because Gaiman, as he stated on his blog, knows little about the arc himself, just general stuff. I think Stephen Thompson knew more of the story than Gaiman did and actually wrote Spot with an eye to exploring the arcs themes, while Gaiman was guest writer who wrote well the story he always wanted to write. Personally, I preferred tonight's episode to last week's - which is odd, since I tend to like arc stories better. But this one had some delicious bits of imagination.

The plot-twist of the Doctor's Wife is that the Tardis' mechanical soul gets pulled into a woman, in order for the meteor planet that has lured the Tardis and the Doctor to it - can eat the Tardis. The meteor or "House" has killed 100s of timelords and eaten 100s of Tardis. The horror tale is the Haunted House is alive and torturing its occupants, keeping alive those that it needs to aid it, taking pieces of various Timelords to keep its assistants alive. A sort of Dr. Frankenstein in meteor form.

This twist provides the Doctor with the ability to finally talk to and interact with his Tardis on a human or flesh and blood basis. How the Tardis greets him is rather fun. Not knowing quite what to do - or how to embrace its doctor, it races towards the Doctor and kisses him, he pushes her away, wiping his lips in disgust and confusion. Then when it finds out it can bite - runs at him and bites him. It's showing affection but not being human isn't quite sure how. My favorite exchange is when the Doctor finally figures out that the woman contains the soul of the Tardis. This inter-action expands on the adorable albeit brief exchange in the previous episode - where the Doctor literally hugs the Tardis, thinking it had abandoned him.

> Tardis: Thief! My Theif.
> 
> Tardis: I was a museum piece when you were young, before you stole me.  
>  The Doctor: Borrowed. I borrowed you.  
>  Tardis: Borrowed indicates a desire to return, and what makes you think I'd want to return you?  
>  I stole you. I wanted to see the universe and you were the only one mad enough to jump aboard and do it with me.

While I continue to find the whole "ships" are "female" and "men" run them bit incredibly sexist and so ingrained in our culture and historical perspective, we don't notice it, I'll give Gaiman credit for showing that the Tardis is cleverer than the Doctor and figures things out faster. Also from its point of view - it stole the Doctor at the same time the Doctor stole it. It chose the Doctor. The two are equals. We have another marriage of equals - the Doctor and the Tardis, the Doctor and River Song. The Doctor and the Tardis have a true marriage in a way - they complement each other, they need each other. But they can't quite talk until now and even now, they don't always understand each other.

We also have the time-travel angle - much like River, the Doctor and the Tardis' relationship is affected by Time. In the beginning when she first sees him - she says Goodbye, and then when she is dying she says hello. She tells him things he will say or people will ask before they happen. The Tardis jumps around in time, tenses, she states, are always difficult aren't they. And tend to be confusing.

According to what I'd read on Gaiman's official blog prior to seeing the episode, this was meant to be aired last year, but got scrapped due to time and scheduling issues. So Gaiman had to rewrite it and insert Rory. The first round it was written prior to Rory joining the team. He did a good job - you can't tell it was written without Rory at any point or where he inserted him. The Rory/Amy story bits examine Amy's own nightmares regarding her relationship with Rory - that she abandons him somewhere or loses him, only to find him tortured, old, ancient, and hating her. The House plays with her mind and we stay in her point of view while inside it's maze - or rather the Tardis' but a Tardis possessed by the evil House. The soul or spirit does indeed make you what you are.

The Tardis is clearly heterosexual in its preferences - it considers Rory to be the pretty one.

> The Doctor: Tell Amy.  
>  Tardis: Which one is Amy?  
>  The Doctor: The pretty one.  
>  Tardis contacts Rory telepathically.  
>  The Doctor: That's Rory.  
>  Tardis: It's the pretty one.  
>  The Doctor: Wait - Rory's the pretty one???

Actually, I also consider Rory to be the pretty one...so the Tardis and I clearly have similar taste. I like Amy though and find her very easy to relate to. Also love the idea of an imaginary friend who comes to life and you run away with through space and time. Which in a way, if you think about it, is what the Doctor did with the Tardis. The Tardis was his means to run away through space and time. Amy-Doctor/Tardis, Doctor-Tardis.

And we get through this interaction little details on The Doctor - how he never reads the directions to the Tardis and just fiddles with it (an alien after my own heart - I do the same thing) even easy to follow directions - such as "pull the door open" - he always pushes, every time, 700 years - you'd think he'd get it.

Okay, so apparently the Doctor has only had the Tardis for 700 years. What was he doing the first 200? The Doctor is 908 after all. One should not try to do math with tv shows...but I guess it proves I'm a bit of a geek that I picked up on it? Only geeks pick up on these sorts of details.

In order for the Tardis to kick the evil House (not to be confused with the character played by Hugh Laurie not that you would), out, her body must die so that her energy can be released. Once again we see life continuing in a different form. River's corporeal body dies in Forest of the Dead, but a data memory or her soul, her essence, is preserved and placed into the Library mainframe where she is saved and continues to live. Here, the Tardis leaves the new corporeal form and flows back into its original body - the ship. Of course it can't stay in a human body for long - it will burn the body out.

Not sure why Gaiman's new characters all look like extras from a Charles Dickens novel. Dressed in Victorian garments, and styles. What is with Gaiman and Dickens? I noticed this tendency in _Neverwhere_ as well. I know he's a huge fan of Dickens, considering he lost weight listening to Bleak House. Maybe that's why? But they literally sound like and look like Dickens characters. That's my only criticism - the whole Dr. Frankenstein thing, and the fact that they (Uncle, Auntie, and the Tardis) are all dressed as if they leaped out of a Dickens novel.

Seriously? The Doctor can't think of another name to call the Tardis outside of you sexy thing?  
Yes, touching, but...

He does spend more quality time with her though after he got to talk to her - asking if she's there. And repairing her wiring below. Rory looks like he wants to say one thing and says another - watching her die was hard...I'm a nurse, and I couldn't help her. (Rather like the gender-bender that Rory is a nurse. And being remind of it.) Then it's either Rory or Amy, can't remember which, I think Rory - who the Tardis actually spoke with - that states the Tardis kept saying Water, "if you want water in a forest, seek the River..the River is all you will need" - literally the only water in a forest is a river . So once again the water metaphor and this time linked directly to River. Although technically and literally "rivers" tend to run through forests. It's their thing. But I think this was meant to be figurative or metaphorical not literal. Interesting, considering the character River dies in _the Forests of the Dead_ \- that was the name of the episode in which she dies. We keep getting references to those two introductory episodes - and they aren't subtle enough to be coincidental. 1) the astronaut suits in The Impossible Astronaut - reflects on Silence in the Library - and the astronaut suits, River and her team pop up in. 2) In a forest, if you want water, you need River. (River dies in the episode entitle forest of the dead, she dies to defeat the forest of the dead or the piranah of the air that come out of the books.

The relationship between the Doctor and the Tardis, from the banter, to their ending echoes River Song and the Doctor in so many ways. Even including how she can run the Tardis better than he can (she reads the instructions). Very indicative of a marital relationship. Commenting on him picking up strays, and by the time they have a meeting of minds, come together, it is regrettably time to part.


End file.
